Voterama in Congress on major issues in the week ending Dec. 21

Published: Friday, December 21, 2012 at 2:45 p.m.

Last Modified: Friday, December 21, 2012 at 2:45 p.m.

WASHINGTON — Here's how North Carolina House members voted on major issues in the week ending Dec. 21. The Senate was in session but conducted no votes.

House

GOP SPENDING PLAN: Voting 215 for and 209 against, the House on Dec. 20 passed a Republican bill (HR 6684) to replace about $110 billion in soon-to-begin across-the-board cuts in military and domestic spending with a new round of domestic spending cuts. Sponsored by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., the bill's main purpose was to head off $55 billion in automatic defense cuts over one year scheduled to start Jan. 3 under so-called "sequester" rules of the 2011 Budget Control Act. The bill also would repeal one year's worth of domestic cuts set to begin Jan. 3 under the sequester, but then would make new cuts in domestic programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) and the 2010 health law. The bill's net effect would be to achieve $236 billion in domestic spending cuts over ten years, about 92 percent of which would come from entitlement programs, while protecting the defense budget for one year against automatic cuts under the sequester.

Republican leaders offered the bill as a tactic in their "fiscal cliff" negotiations with President Obama. They paired it with a bill known as "Plan B" to permanently lock-in Bush-era tax cuts for incomes under $1 million while allowing taxes to rise on higher incomes. Their rationale was that the GOP rank-and-file would be more willing to vote to raise taxes on millionaires if they could vote at the same time to cut entitlements and domestic discretionary spending. But Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, pulled the tax-rates half of the package from the floor when it became apparent he lacked enough Republican votes to pass it.

OIL TAX BREAKS, MEDICARE CUTS: Voting 179 for and 243 against, the House on Dec. 20 defeated a Democratic bid to repeal tax breaks for the five largest oil companies and use the savings to soften cuts that HR 6684 (above) would make in Medicare, Medicaid and the State Children's Health insurance (SCHIP) program. The motion also required the Department of Health and Human Services website to post information on how those cuts in the social safety net would affect constituents in each of the 435 congressional districts. The oil companies — BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil and Shell — receive about $4 billion annually in federal tax breaks.

2013 MILITARY BUDGET: Voting 315 for and 107 against, the House on Dec. 20 approved the conference report on a $633.3 billion military budget for fiscal 2013, including $88.5 billion for actions in Afghanistan and Iraq, at least $57 billion for active-duty and retirement healthcare, $17.3 billion for nuclear-weapons programs run by the Department of Energy and $9.7 billion for space- and land-based missile defenses. Now awaiting Senate action, the bill (HR 4310) funds a 1.7 percent military pay raise, rejects a Pentagon request for further rounds of base-closings, assigns 1,000 Marines to guard U.S. diplomatic facilities overseas and provides Israel with $210 million for bolstering its "Iron Dome" defenses against incoming rockets.

The bill affirms the Dec. 31, 2014 deadline for ending U.S. combat operations in Afghanistan; allows funding of abortions for servicewomen in cases of rape and incest as well as to save the life of the mother; funds design of a new facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory to manufacture plutonium for nuclear weapons and requires study into adding at least three missile-defense installations on U.S. soil, including one on the East Coast. The bill permits same-sex marriages on any military base in states where such unions are legal but does allows chaplains to opt out of these ceremonies if they choose to do so on religious grounds.

Additionally, the bill increases the Pentagon's use of non-fossil fuels; bars the administration from transferring inmates from the Guantanamo Bay military prison in Cuba to federal prisons in the U.S.; expands economic sanctions on Iran's energy and shipping sectors and requires the Pentagon to provide Congress with a plan for military action in Syria should that civil war expand into a regional conflict.

In the week of Dec. 24, both chambers may debate "fiscal cliff" bills and consider disaster aid for areas struck by Hurricane Sandy. The Senate will vote on the conference report on the fiscal 2013 military budget.

<p>WASHINGTON — Here's how North Carolina House members voted on major issues in the week ending Dec. 21. The Senate was in session but conducted no votes.</p><p>House</p><p>GOP SPENDING PLAN: Voting 215 for and 209 against, the House on Dec. 20 passed a Republican bill (HR 6684) to replace about $110 billion in soon-to-begin across-the-board cuts in military and domestic spending with a new round of domestic spending cuts. Sponsored by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., the bill's main purpose was to head off $55 billion in automatic defense cuts over one year scheduled to start Jan. 3 under so-called "sequester" rules of the 2011 Budget Control Act. The bill also would repeal one year's worth of domestic cuts set to begin Jan. 3 under the sequester, but then would make new cuts in domestic programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) and the 2010 health law. The bill's net effect would be to achieve $236 billion in domestic spending cuts over ten years, about 92 percent of which would come from entitlement programs, while protecting the defense budget for one year against automatic cuts under the sequester.</p><p>Republican leaders offered the bill as a tactic in their "fiscal cliff" negotiations with President Obama. They paired it with a bill known as "Plan B" to permanently lock-in Bush-era tax cuts for incomes under $1 million while allowing taxes to rise on higher incomes. Their rationale was that the GOP rank-and-file would be more willing to vote to raise taxes on millionaires if they could vote at the same time to cut entitlements and domestic discretionary spending. But Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, pulled the tax-rates half of the package from the floor when it became apparent he lacked enough Republican votes to pass it.</p><p>A yes vote was to pass the bill.</p><p>Voting yes: Republicans Renee Ellmers, Virginia Foxx, Howard Coble, Sue Myrick and Patrick McHenry</p><p>Voting no: Democrats G.K. Butterfield, David Price, Mike McIntyre, Larry Kissell, Heath Shuler, Melvin Watt and Brad Miller, and Republican Walter Jones</p><p>OIL TAX BREAKS, MEDICARE CUTS: Voting 179 for and 243 against, the House on Dec. 20 defeated a Democratic bid to repeal tax breaks for the five largest oil companies and use the savings to soften cuts that HR 6684 (above) would make in Medicare, Medicaid and the State Children's Health insurance (SCHIP) program. The motion also required the Department of Health and Human Services website to post information on how those cuts in the social safety net would affect constituents in each of the 435 congressional districts. The oil companies — BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil and Shell — receive about $4 billion annually in federal tax breaks.</p><p>A yes vote backed the Democratic measure.</p><p>Voting yes: Butterfield, Jones, Price, McIntyre, Kissell, Shuler, Watt, Miller</p><p>Voting no: Ellmers, Foxx, Coble, Myrick, McHenry</p><p>2013 MILITARY BUDGET: Voting 315 for and 107 against, the House on Dec. 20 approved the conference report on a $633.3 billion military budget for fiscal 2013, including $88.5 billion for actions in Afghanistan and Iraq, at least $57 billion for active-duty and retirement healthcare, $17.3 billion for nuclear-weapons programs run by the Department of Energy and $9.7 billion for space- and land-based missile defenses. Now awaiting Senate action, the bill (HR 4310) funds a 1.7 percent military pay raise, rejects a Pentagon request for further rounds of base-closings, assigns 1,000 Marines to guard U.S. diplomatic facilities overseas and provides Israel with $210 million for bolstering its "Iron Dome" defenses against incoming rockets.</p><p>The bill affirms the Dec. 31, 2014 deadline for ending U.S. combat operations in Afghanistan; allows funding of abortions for servicewomen in cases of rape and incest as well as to save the life of the mother; funds design of a new facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory to manufacture plutonium for nuclear weapons and requires study into adding at least three missile-defense installations on U.S. soil, including one on the East Coast. The bill permits same-sex marriages on any military base in states where such unions are legal but does allows chaplains to opt out of these ceremonies if they choose to do so on religious grounds.</p><p>Additionally, the bill increases the Pentagon's use of non-fossil fuels; bars the administration from transferring inmates from the Guantanamo Bay military prison in Cuba to federal prisons in the U.S.; expands economic sanctions on Iran's energy and shipping sectors and requires the Pentagon to provide Congress with a plan for military action in Syria should that civil war expand into a regional conflict.</p><p>A yes vote was to approve the conference report.</p><p>Voting yes: Butterfield, Ellmers, Price, Foxx, Coble, McIntyre, Kissell, Myrick, McHenry, Shuler </p><p>Voting no: Jones, Watt, Miller </p><p>A look ahead</p><p>In the week of Dec. 24, both chambers may debate "fiscal cliff" bills and consider disaster aid for areas struck by Hurricane Sandy. The Senate will vote on the conference report on the fiscal 2013 military budget.</p>